Telephone attachment for holding receiver switch



Aug. l5, 1950 R. L. KIRBY Erm. 2,518,554

TELEPHONE magici-msm FOR HOLDING RECEIvER SWITCHES Filed April 6, 1949 Patented Aug. 15,v 1950 TELEPHONE ATTACHMENT FOR HOLDING RECEIVER SWITCH Robert L. Kirby, Moline, and Edward E. McCombs, Rock Island, Ill.

Application April 6, 1949, Serial No. 85,882

' ys claims. (C1. 17 :1 -178) Our invention relates to attachments for table or desk telephones oi a conventional type, having the transmitter and receiver mounted in a single hand set.

l In families where there are young children it often happens that the hand set of a telephone is either intentionally or accidentally displaced from its'seat, thus making it impossible for that particular phone to receive a call and if on a party line, it will interruptthe use of the entire line.

The `objects of our invention are to provide automatic means to hold the circuit-controlling switches in normal position to receive calls even though the hand set may be moved from its cradle or plate either accidentally or intentionally, to avoid interrupting the bell-ringing or signalling circuit and to provide means by which the switch-controlling circuit may be manually controlled after the hand set has been removed from its seat; also to provide such an attachment in a simple and inexpensive form which can be easily attached to the ordinary standard forms of telephone without altering or marring the phones or their mounting and can be easily and quickly applied and operated manually without the use of tools.

We accomplish these objects by the means illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my attachment applied to a square table telephone, but omitting the hand set;

Figure 2 is a fractional vertical sectional view of such a phone with our invention applied to it;

Figure 3 is a fractional top or plan view;

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail of vthe resilient bar element;

Figure 5 is a top or plan View of a round desk phone with an alternate form of our invention applied thereto, but omitting the hand set;

Figure 6 is a fractional sectional detail on the line 6 6 of Figure 5.

Similar numerals refer tov similar parts throughout the several views.

Our appliance comprises a flat bar or plate 3 of resilient material preferably of plastic shaped to follow approximately one end or side of the `telephone housing I and with a spring clip 4 to hold the lower end thereof snugly against the lower part 2 of the phone housing l and with its upper part 3.I bent at an angle so as to lie along the top of the cradle or plate which supports the hand set 'l when at rest` l In a common type of desk phones, the hand set 'l when in place rests upon a pair of pegs or pins 5-5.| which are mounted in the top of the housing and extend upwardly above the housing and are arranged with springs which move them upwardly when the hand set is lifted and allows them to move downwardly from the weight of the hand set when rested thereon.

When applied to this form of phone, the upper end of my bar or plate is provided with an opening 3.2 large enough to encircle the peg 5. At the rear end of the opening 3.2, the plate is beveled at 8 and the adjacent end of the peg 5 is correspondingly beveled or inclined to facilitate the bar in passing upon the upper face of the peg 5.

When the hand set is in place resting upon the pegs 5-5.l, it holds the pegs down and the bell-ringing or signalling line is held in circuit, but when the hand set is lifted from the pegs their springs force them upwardly and actuate the switches so as to cut out the ringing or signalling circuit.

With our attachment applied to the phone, when the hand set 'I is rested upon the peg 5, the extension 3.l of the bar or plate 3 is carried inwardly by the force of the spring clip 4 and as it then extends over the peg 5, it holds the peg 5 down and thereby prevents throwing the switch which would cut out the circuit bringing in the bell signals.

In order to cut out that switch and cut in the circuit which permits transmission, it is only necessary for the operator to manually move the plate 3 outwardly far enough to allow the pegs 5 to pass upwardly into the opening 3.2 as Shown in Figure 1.

In the form of attachment shown in Figures 5 and 6, the hand set rests upon a bed plate 9 controlling the switch for outgoing and incoming signalling circuits. When my attachment is applied to that form of circuit, the bar i3 is mounted upon the neck of the housing by a spring clip I0 which acts to hold the bed down, but when the hand set is lifted oi the bed 9 in order to throw the switch to cut out the incoming bell signal circuit and cut in the outgoing circuit, it is only necessary for the operator to press outwardly upon the upper part of the bar I3 enough to cause the end thereof to clear the bed 9.

Various modications in the size, proportions and materials of our attachment may be made without departing from the spirit of our invention and we do not limit our claims to the precise forms shown in the drawings.

We claim:

l. In a telephone of the cradle desk type having a housing and a hand set with transmitter and receiver contained therein, a movable switchcontrolling plunger mounted in the housing whereby the switch will normally be held in position to permit reception of incoming signals when the hand set is in its cradle, an attachment comprising a flexible bar having its lower end mounted upon the base or the housing with its upper end in contact with and detaining said plunger when in normal position and allowing the hand set to be removed from and held out of its cradle while said bar remains manually engaged with said plunger, a U-shaped spring wire clamping' member having upwardly turned arms to em brace the lower edge of the outer wall of the hous-l ing and an intermediate raised portion bearing against the outer face of the bar to urge the bar toward the housing whereby the upper end of the bar will contact and detain the plunger until manually retracted.

2. In a telephone of the cradle desk type having a housing and` a hand set arranged to. rest in the cradle when idle upon a switch-controlling plunger movably mounted in the housing, a iiexible bar adjacent the housing with its lower end united to the housing, a spring clamp united to the lower edge of the housing bearing against andv exerting constant pressure inwardly upon said bar, said bar having its upper end, as acted upon by the said spring clamp, automatically contacting the head of the plunger and detaining the plunger in normal idle position when the hand sei: is removed from its cradle and until manually dis'- engaged from the plunger.

3. In a telephone of the cradle desk type having a housing and a hand set arranged to rest in the cradle when idle upon a switch-controlling plunger movably mountedy in the housing, a iexible bar adjacent the housing with its lower end united to the housing a spring clamp united to the lower edge of the housing and bearing against and exerting constant pressure inwardly upon said bar the upper end of said bar under pressurer of said spring clamp automatically contacting and detaining the plunger in normal idle position when the hand set is removed from its cradle and until manually disengaged from the plunger, and automatically returning said bar to contact and detain said plunger when released from manual restraint.

4. A telephone attachment as described in claim 2, said bar being composed of a plastic nonductive material.

5. A telephone attachment as described ih claim 2, the upper end of said bar having a flat ange formed thereon to contact the upper end of the plunger, and an opening formed in the flange through which the upper end of the plunger may project when the bar is manually released from its closed position, the upper face of the plunger being beveled on one edge to facilitate action of the ilange of the bar.

6. A telephone attachment as described in claim 2, the upper endv of said bar having a flat ange for-med thereon. to contact the upper end of the plunger, and an opening formed on the flange through which the upper end of theplunger may project when the bar is manually moved rearwardly a short distance from its closed posii tion, the upper face of the plunger being beveled at one edge of the opening to facilitate movement of the iiange upon the bar.

ROBERT L. KIRBY. EDWARD E. MCCGMBS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,186,049 Stephens June 6', 1916 2,300,114 Golseth Oct. 27, 1.942 2,310,032 Mathieson Feb, 2, 1943 2,326,591 White Aug. 10, 1943 2,355,464 Obergfell ---2 Aug. 8, 1944 2,428,091 Oberglell Sept. 30, 1947 

